Mirai Kuriyama
Mirai Kuriyama (栗山 未来, Kuriyama Mirai) is the protagonist of the Kyoukai no Kanata series. She is a first year student and a member of the school's Literary Club. She comes from a bloodline of Spirit World Warriors who all posses blood-manipulation abilities. However, because this kind of ability is considered to be heretical among the other Spirit World Warrior clans, she became an existence that is shunned by many. Appearance Akihito and Hiroomi say that Mirai "little sister" characteristics. Mirai has a soft, fluff, wavy, light brown/pink hair, styled in a chin-length bob, with fringes reaching her eyebrows. She has an innocent face, a bosom that hasn't fully matured and a petite and delicate frame. Lastly Akihito describes her nose as "perfect" Mirai is typically seen wearing her school uniform, with a light pink cardigan on top, and dark coloured leggings, or similar hosiery. The reason Mirai wears her cardigan is to conceal a bandaged wound (a gash on the right forearm in the light novels/ a small round wound on the right palm in the anime). The wound serves as a way to transport her blood out of her body, whenever she needs to use her ability, to manipulate blood. In the light novels, she also wears a set of bracelets to secure the bandages to her wounds. On top of that, she constantly wears a simple golden ring on her pinky finger, which seals her ability. During summer, she exchanges her cardigan for a sleeve-less sweater, identical to her cardigan in every other aspect, and wears this on top of her summer uniform. Mirai's most distinguishable accessory is the pair of thick-rimmed, rounded, red spectacles, which she proceeds to adorn at all times. For a short period of time, she temporarily switches to a pair of square black glasses, but switches back to her red ones as soon as she is able to. It is later revealed that Mirai's appearance is very similar to that of her mothers, apart from her hair-colour and style. Personality Awkward and a little shy, Mirai rarely excels at school. In fact, she struggles a lot in life; she has to earn her own money to make ends meet, but her constant fear of meeting a Youmu used to prevent her from earning an income from killing Youmu, which most of the Spiritual World Warriors take as part of her profession. To make matters worse, her hobby of writing blog articles about his much-loved bonsai-trees is often ridiculed on the Internet. Their movements in the battle show some degree of knowledge in how to fight, although she lacks the experience in actual combat due to its problems with Youmu encounters. After joining with those around her, Mirai begins to feel more confident about Youmu's defeat and became the seasoned World Warrior Spirit. She likes to say the words "How unpleasant!" (不 愉快 で す !, "Fuyukai desu!") When shaking. Mirai has proven to be very bad at lying, like the other characters in the show, mainly Akihito Kanbara immediately notice. The reason behind this, is that every time she lies unconsciously clean-cleans her glasses, while avoiding the look of the person she tries to lie. Mirai has a personality similar to that of a Dandere, with a bit of Tsundere. She is also uncomfortable, even though she does not want to be. She tends to withdraw and stay in the bottom of things, but has a voice of her own. Mirai Kuriyama is also aware of how it looks, as an example is when Ai and Mitsuki were talking about how having large breasts is worrying. Mirai strives to avoid interacting with others, but fails. She is very persistent and does not enjoy being ridiculed. History Mirai is the sole survivor of a Spirit World Warrior-clan with the ability to manipulate their own blood - they were able to form weapons from their blood and even use it as a spray with corrosive properties. Left without relatives, Mirai was adopted by the Inami family, but kept isolated because of her powers. However, the family's middle daughter, Yui Inami, befriended Mirai on contravention of her family's harsh treatment of the girl. (In the anime series, Yui's younger sister, Sakura, becomes a second friend.) When the Hollow Shadow later appears it possesses Yui, and left without any other choices, Mirai kills her to save herself, something she has regretted ever since. This act, understandably, drew the ire of the Inami family, and especially that of Sakura. The Inami family wanted to kill Mirai in retribution but never got the chance, as the former was taken in by Izumi Nase, who believed that her powers would potentially be strong enough to kill Akihito Kanbara, a half-Youmu who was determined to be a threat to Nagatsuki City. Story (Anime Series) Mirai and Akihito meet for the first time, when he sees her standing by the edge of the roof of his school. Falsely assuming that she is attempting to commit suicide, he runs to the roof to stop her. The meeting was far from pleasant for Akihito when, upon seeing him, Mirai stabs him with a sword she conjures using her blood. To her surprise he survives due to his youmu lineage. Mirai continues to hound Akihito, attacking him unexpectedly but with a continued lack of success. Mirai later reveals that she is struggling to make ends meet as a Spirit World Warrior due to her lack of experience in slaying youmu (which is a source of income for Spirit World Warriors who sell the stones that defeated youmu leave behind). With support from Akihito, Mirai manages to kill a youmu for the first time. Akihito starts to consider her his friend, but the following day, to his surprise, she tells Akihito to stay away from her because she has cursed blood and once killed someone. He responds by telling her that she doesn't understand anything. News soon spreads about a powerful youmu known as the Hollow Shadow approaching Nagatsuki City and Mirai quickly goes to fight it on her own, despite explicit orders that Spirit World Warriors are not to confront it, let alone on their lonesome. Just as she is about to engage in combat with the Hollow Shadow, she is attacked by Sakura Inami, who, although lacking in Spirit World Warrior ability, is determined to avenge her sister. Both Sakura and Mirai are then swallowed by an illusion created by the Hollow Shadow's presence, and Mirai narrowly escapes Sakura's powerful attacks with the help of Akihito, who pursued her after learning of her bold decision to take on the youmu single-handedly. Akihito and Mirai soon find themselves in a twisted replica of the local trainyard where the youmu manifests itself in the form of Yui Inami. Mirai is almost overwhelmed with guilt, but Akihito helps her once more and she manages to defeat the youmu enough to dispel the illusions it created. However, the weakened youmu then attempts to take over Akihito's body, leaving Mirai with no choice but to stab Akihito. He survives the attack but is weakened sufficiently that his youmu half awakens and goes berserk. Seeing this transformation, she realizes what he meant when he said that they were not the two of them were not that different. With the assistance of three Spirit World Warriors, Mirai is able to quell the youmu and return Akihito to normal. He befriends Mirai and eventually convinces her to join the Literary Club. However, due to her disobeying orders during the Hollow Shadow incident, her Spirit World Warrior license is confiscated, leaving her out of action and without a source of income for the following month. Akihito helps her survive by introducing her to his senpai, Mitsuki Nase, as well as Ai and Ayaka Shindou, who agrees to give Mirai a part-time job in her shop and as a photography model. Her peaceful life, however, is disrupted once again when Sakura Inami returns and transfers into her class. The two later engage in battle once more, although Mirai defeats Sakura this time. Afterwards, the weapon Sakura has been using to supplement her lack of Spirit World Warrior powers turns against her, prompting Mirai to protect Sakura. Afterwards the two girls reconcile and even share an apartment. The peace gained by the destruction of the Hollow Shadow is only temporary though. Another threat, known as the Calm, approaches. Under the influence of the Calm, youmu are weakened and become easy prey for Spirit World Warriors. After using her powers on his human half, Izumi Nase uses the effect of the Calm to bring out Akihito's youmu form and it is revealed that he has been harboring an ultra-powerful youmu, known as Beyond the Boundary, within him and that Mirai was brought to the city for the express purpose of killing this youmu. Having developed feelings for Akihito, Mirai does not want to kill him and is told of a way to save him. She follows the advice and removes the youmu from Akihito at the cost of her own life. Akihito falls into a three month long coma and when he awakens it is revealed that Beyond the Boundary is still fighting Mirai, having created a pocket dimension. Miroku, having sacrificed himself to a youmu, wants to bring about the destruction of the world and acts to aid Beyond the Boundary. He is confronted by Izumi, Shizuku, Hiroomi, Mitsuki and Sakura who interfere in his efforts. It is revealed that Izumi also harbors a youmu within her but has retained her humanity. Elsewhere, Akihito uses a Spirit Stone to enter the pocket dimension and aids Mirai in defeating Beyond the Boundary. Having used all of her blood to remove the youmu from Akihito, its defeat means that she no longer has a body. Just before she disappears, Mirai confesses her love to Akihito. In the aftermath of this event, Izumi has disappeared for parts unknown, leaving Hiroomi as head of the Nase Clan and everything else returns to normal: Ayaka and Ai return to their shop, Mitsuki continues to insult Akihito during their club activities and Hiroomi continues to harass both Akihito and his sister. Throughout it all, Akihito has kept Mirai's ring as a memento. Then one day the ring disappears from his hand and Akihito races to the roof of the school where he finds a miraculously living Mirai waiting for him. Story (Movie) One year after the end of the series, it is shown that she no longer has any memory of her fight with the Beyond the Boundary, Akihito, or her past ability of being able to manipulate her blood. She is seemingly living a normal life with Sakura Inami, as they are still roommates and classmates. Life seems normal, and she is seen making a scrapbook of things she thinks are nice, and participating with Sakura and Ai in tennis tryouts. While walking back with Sakura they come across a mysterious shadow that comes menacingly towards them, Sakura tells Mirai to flee, but Mirai stops when a hooded figure asks her, "Do you wish to know who you are?" She narrowly avoids one of the shadow's attacks but is saved by Akihito and Hiroomi Nase. Afterward, she confronts Akihito about why he ran to her on the roof and why he was crying. Hiroomi and Mitsuki Nase cover by saying that he has a glasses fetish and only was crying out of sheer awe upon seeing her. Later that night she notices that blood is coming from her ring, thinking that she cut herself. The next day she joins the Literature Club with Mitsuki Nase and Akihito Kanbara, much to Akihito's apprehension. Later that night more of her past life starts to surface: while going out to eat and going to the park, she feels as if they had done this before, and sensing that they both have had a deeper connection than previously thought. She also reveals that she is able to manipulate her blood into a sword and cause her blood to form spikes from the ground; she believes that this is the reason that tes Akihito. Mirai defends herself, and the hooded figure is revealed as Izumi Nase, who flees. Hiroomi and Akihito get Mirai back to her apartment and go their separate ways. A short while later Akihito appears to come back to talk; as Mirai is about to leave with him she receives a phone call from Akihito who admits leaving on a bad note and wanting to talk. Confused, Mirai quickly realizes that the one who appeared at her door is none other than Fujima Miroku. It is also revealed that the youmu he possesses is able to infect others just by looking into their eyes and that the shadows that have been wandering around the city are the Spirit Warriors themselves as the youmu shows the darkness in one's own soul, causing them to hallucinate their darkest fear until it consumes them. Fujima Miroku is able to get a hold of Mirai and infect her. Akihito rushes to her but is not in time, and it is shown that the darkness has taken hold of her, her change evident in her hair turning black and sprouting black clawlike appendages from her body. Everyone rushes to an old building where many of the shadows have appeared. They find the hooded figure, but soon discover that it is the dead body of Miroku. He was the one behind the youmu that infected Izumi, in order for him to have a new vessel upon his death at the end of the anime series. There Izumi and Hiroomi fight which ends with Hiroomi reaching out for her, finally grasping the sacrifice that Izumi made to protect her family. As Mirai and Akihito fight, flashbacks show the pain she felt as she and her mother were both persecuted for being a part of the Cursed Clan. Her mother makes the ultimate sacrifice and gives her life. In the present Akihito is shown with Mirai on a cliff overlooking the sea, there she expresses her sense of loss and abandonment for being a "monster" to everyone throughout her life, believing that she should have never existed. In that instant Akihito is able to embrace her and confess his love for her, breaking the hold of the darkness on her. In the real world it is shown that Ayaka, Izumi and Shizuku are all well and alive. It is shown in the credits that everyone is moving on as they continue their day to day lives, Izumi is recovering. One day, when they are on their way to school, Mirai told Akihito that she loves him, with the latter reciprocated. As Akihito remarked that he was also bringing with him a lot of glasses, Mirai replied with her trademark sentence "How unpleasant" with a happy smile. Abilities Hemokinesis * Mirai was born with the ability to manipulate her blood in various ways such as shaping and solidifying it to form constructs e.g. a sword or shield. This ability is limited by her body's natural blood volume. Her blood also has corrosive properties when injected into or sprayed against an opponent, as shown in a few episodes. Swordsmanship * Mirai displays graceful swordsmanship that works around precisely defending her body by swinging her sword around her body while cutting through enemy attacks, as shown from the beginning of episode 2 onwards. Cursed Blood * An ability that corrodes whatever it touches to the core, bringing death as shown on episode 4 ' ' Relationships Akihito Kanbara Mirai first met Akihito on the roof of the school building while trying to commit suicide. She stabs him only to find out that he is immortal. She goes on trying to stab him for practice until eventually, they become friends. Akihito helps Mirai overcome her fear of Youmu. Although she's frequently complains about how unpleasant he is, she still cares about him. In Episode 12, when Mirai is about to disappear, she thanks Akihito for allowing her to know him, and she expressed how grateful she was for the opportunity to fall in love with him, admitting her feelings for him. Sakura Inami After finding out what Mirai had done to her older sister, she began to hunt her down, planning to avenge Yui. After a battle with Mirai, Sakura came to realize that she is not a Spirit World Warrior and becomes friends with Mirai, eventually developing a bond with her. She currently lives in Mirai's apartment. She seems to care about Mirai to the point of frantically asking where she was after she disappeared and kicking Akihito hard when he didn't answer. Mitsuki Nase Mirai meets Mitsuki after Akihito introduces them to each other. Although Mitsuki was cautious of Mirai at first, she still developed a bond with her after getting to know her better and has girl talks with her from time to time. Mitsuki gave Akihito information about Mirai's background, thus being a major part of the storyline. Trivia * Her given name 'Mirai' means 'future' in Japanese. * She likes sweets, high-calorie snacks, and also her beloved bonsai. * Mirai spends a lot of time on her phone, writing rants on her blog which are often subject to scrutiny. Gallery Mirai-1st-appearance-EP1.png Kyoukai-3-34-sakura-vs-mirai.jpg Mirai-Unleashes-Power.png Mirai'sPartTimeJob.png Ep12-akihito and mirai.png Kuriyama-san-being-half-decisive.png Mirai 2.png Mirai.png Kuriyama Mirai.png Mirai Kuriyama anime.png References zh:栗山未来 Category:Characters